JUST IN: Serial rapist arrested: 16‑year manhunt ends, DNA links suspect to 14 attacks
Whilst out on bail, he allegedly raped 13 women.
A 36-year-old man suspected of being a serial rapist has been apprehended in KwaZulu-Natal, ending a 16-year manhunt. The suspect is linked to the brutal rape of 14 women across Zululand district and Gauteng. Police captured him in the Ncotshane area of Nongoma on Sunday, 21 September 2026. According to police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the suspect began his spree by raping a woman at Mahlabathini in January 2010.
He was initially arrested in 2010 on bail for the rape of a woman, but he absconded from court. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and he allegedly committed further sexual assaults while out on bail. Netshiunda revealed the suspect's modus operandi, stating he broke windows or doors of houses where women were staying alone, then threatened them with a knife.
DNA evidence collected during the 2010 arrest linked him to all the cases. The suspect will appear in Mahlabathini Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 21 September 2026, for failing to appear in court in 2010, followed by formal charges for the remaining 13 rape cases.
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